On May 20, 2020, FERC issued a notice that it will convene a Commissioner-led technical conference on Wednesday and Thursday, July 8–9, 2020 from approximately 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time each day “to consider the ongoing, serious impacts that the emergency conditions caused by COVID-19 are having on various segments of the United States’ energy industry.” The notice stated that the technical conference will explore potential long-term impacts on FERC-regulated entities to ensure the continued efficient functioning of energy markets, electric transmission, transportation of natural gas and oil, and reliable operation of energy infrastructure, while also protecting consumers.…Continue Reading FERC to Convene Technical Conference on Impacts of COVID-19 on the Energy Industry

On May 21, 2020, FERC issued a proposed policy statement setting forth a revised approach to addressing requests for waiver, including: waiver of rates; non-rate terms and conditions; market rules; and procedural deadlines that are set forth in tariffs, rate schedules, service agreements, and contracts on file with FERC (“Proposed Policy Statement”). FERC specifically proposes to:

discontinue granting retroactive waivers of tariff provisions, with a few specified exceptions; and

grant requests for “remedial relief” only when applicants demonstrate that (a) such a request does not violate the filed rate doctrine or rule against retroactive ratemaking, or (b) the requested relief is within FERC’s remedial authority under section 309 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) or section 16 of the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”).

On May 21, 2020, FERC found PJM Interconnection, L.LC.’s (“PJM”) existing reserve market design to be unjust and unreasonable and established a replacement market design that includes, among other elements, a downward-sloping Operating Reserve Demand Curve (“ORCD”) and a $2,000/MWh price ceiling. In addition, FERC found that the changes to PJM’s reserve market would render PJM’s existing methodology for calculating its energy and ancillary services offset (“E&AS Offset”) unjust and unreasonable, and directed PJM to implement a forward-looking E&AS Offset on compliance. In a separate dissenting statement, Commissioner Richard Glick stated that PJM’s proposal would result in over procurement of reserves and impose billions of dollars of additional costs on consumers. Pointing to FERC’s recent orders accepting PJM’s Variable Resource Requirement Curve (see April 23, 2020 edition of the WER) and Minimum Offer Price Rule (see April 22, 2020 edition of the WER), Commissioner Glick characterized the May 21 order as the latest installment in a series of decisions prioritizing high prices over efficient markets.…Continue Reading FERC Orders Changes to PJM Reserve Market Design and E&AS Offset Calculation

On May 12, 2020, FERC clarified that the offer floor price calculation for Special Case Resources (“SCRs”)—demand response resources participating in the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“NYISO”) Installed Capacity market (“ICAP”)—must include any payment or other benefit provided by state-sponsored programs. FERC’s order follows a February 2020 order directing NYISO to apply its buyer-side mitigation (“BSM”) rules to all new SCRs, and finding that the offer floor calculation for SCRs should include only the incremental costs of providing wholesale-level capacity services rather than payments from retail-level demand response programs designed to address distribution-level reliability needs. Commissioner Richard Glick issued a separate statement concurring with FERC’s clarification as to the SCR offer floor price calculation, but added that NYISO’s BSM regime will impose arbitrarily high offer floors on SCRs that are not exercising market power.…Continue Reading FERC Clarifies Offer Floor Calculation for NYISO Special Case Resources Includes State-Sponsored Benefits

On April 30, 2020, FERC accepted the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“NYISO”) proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) and its Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff intended to enhance the integration of its Generator Deactivation Process with its Reliability Planning Process. NYISO proposed to establish a Short-Term Reliability Process using quarterly Short-Term Assessment of Reliability (“STAR”) studies that simultaneously evaluate the reliability impact of both generator deactivations and other changes that may impact transmission facilities (“Proposal”). FERC found that the Proposal will enhance NYISO’s current Generator Deactivation Process into a more efficient and comprehensive Short-Term Reliability Process.…Continue Reading FERC Accepts NYISO’s Proposed Tariff Revisions Regarding Its Short-Term Reliability Process

On April 17, 2020, FERC denied Potomac Economics, Ltd.’s (“Potomac Economics”) complaint against PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (”PJM”), which alleged that PJM’s rule requiring external generation resources to obtain a pseudo-tie in order to participate in PJM’s capacity market was unjust and unreasonable (“Complaint”). FERC found that Potomac Economics failed to show that PJM’s pseudo-tie requirement had caused market inefficiencies or harmed reliability and that any arguments regarding potential future harms to the New York System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) by the pseudo-tie requirement were speculative. FERC also denied PJM’s motion to dismiss the Complaint, finding that market monitors may file complaints under Federal Power Act (“FPA”) section 206, provided that such market monitors satisfy the requirements of FERC’s relevant regulations.…Continue Reading FERC Denies Complaint Alleging PJM’s External Resource Pseudo-Tie Requirements Are Unjust and Unreasonable

On April 16, 2020, FERC denied rehearing of an April 2019 order approving changes to PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) Variable Resource Requirement (“VRR”) demand curve in connection with PJM’s 2019 Base Residual Auction for the 2022/2023 Delivery Year (see April 24, 2019 edition of the WER for more background on the April 2019 order and the PJM’s VRR curve). Among other issues, FERC’s April 2020 order on rehearing rejected arguments that PJM erred in designating a combustion turbine (“CT”) power plant with a new H-class turbine configuration as the Reference Resource—a theoretical new generator that PJM uses as a benchmark to determine the cost of entering the market. In a lengthy dissent, Commissioner Richard Glick argued FERC’s decision is unsupported by substantial evidence and inconsistent with FERC precedent. According to Commissioner Glick, FERC’s approval of a CT Reference Resource and resulting Net Cost of New Entry (“CONE”) estimate will lead to host of issues, including distorting PJM’s entire capacity market design and harming consumers by increasing rates.…Continue Reading FERC Affirms Use of Combustion Turbine as Reference Resource for PJM VRR Demand Curve

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